


A Soldier, a Nurse, and Hero

by watcherofworlds



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Rogers family history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>4 months after Steve's apparent death, Peggy Carter visits his empty grave and reflects on his family's legacy of dying for other people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Soldier, a Nurse, and Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I humbly request your opinions on this fic.

It was a cold, rainy day in September, 4 months since Steve had crashed somewhere in the Arctic. Peggy stood in front of a row of headstones, her eyes fixed on the ground. A bird twittered somewhere in one of the many clumps of trees that dotted the cemetery, the cheerful sound oddly incongruous with the gloomy weather and Peggy's equally gloomy mood. She listened to the sound of raindrops thudding on granite headstones and wondered why it had taken her so long to come here. Steve's grave was empty. She _knew_ that, and yet... deep down some part of her had kept on hoping that he was still alive, that someone,  _anyone,_ would find him. Visiting his grave would make his death real. Once she saw it, there would be no more denying it,no more hope that she would see him again. But even as she stood there, so close to it, she still couldn't quite bring herself to look at it. She slowly lifted her eyes and studied the first headstone in the row.

_Joseph Rogers,_ it read. _March 3, 1896-May 5, 1918_. _Pro Patria et Gloria._

Peggy kept her gaze on it for several long moments, then moved on to the next one.

_Sarah Rogers. January 17, 1898-June 5, 1936._ _Tenacious as a bulldog, stubborn as a mule._

She stared at the cold granite headstone and watched the rainwater collect and slide down it. It was time to move on to the next one, she knew, but the strength required to do so was more than she could muster at that moment. Her chest tightened as dread took a hold of her. She dragged her eyes across the overgrown grass between Steve's mother's grave and the one next to it. It took a tremendous amount of effort to do so; it was almost painful. She took a deep, shuddering breath and, with a supreme effort of will, looked up at the last headstone in the row, representing the fall of the last member of the Rogers family.

_Steven Rogers. July 4, 1918-May 8, 1945_

She stared at the name and date for a long time before she could bring herself to read the epitaph.

_"This is my choice"_

All at once, the patter of raindrops on granite turned into the crackle of static on a radio, and she heard Steve's voice somewhere in the back of her mind.

"Peggy," he said. "This is my choice" She closed her eyes against the tears welling up in them and it was gone, one last echo of the man she loved fading away into nothingness. She raked her eyes across the headstones of the Rogers family, a soldier, a nurse, and a hero, a depressing family legacy of dying for other people. A surge of grief overwhelmed her and she collapsed to her knees in front of Steve's headstone, her forehead resting on the cold gray stone, tears streaming down her face. Her shoulders shook with sobs as she drowned in a sea of sorrow. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back, startled. For the briefest of instants she thought Steve had come back to her, but then logic took over and she realized it was only a groundskeeper.

"I'm sorry miss, but you need to leave," the groundskeeper said awkwardly. He studied her tear-streaked face and asked "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Peggy said, her crisp English accent mangled by tears. "I just... I need a minute"

The groundskeeper nodded sympathetically and walked away, disappearing into the rain like a ghost. Peggy sat in front of Steve's grave for a moment longer, deep in thought, then got to her feet and left, promising herself she'd never return.


End file.
